January 20th

Today was my day to be hands on. So I rode my bike to Trailblazers to work making bio sand filters. We started at 8 and I worked with Pauli and Ti . First we made cement which required us to wash gravel and then mix 3 pails of gravel with 3 pails of sand and 1.5 pails of cement in a cement mixer, Then the job of getting the gas engine for the mixer going required it to be cranked. Pauli tried 5 times and it just coughed and sputtered. You have to crank it very quickly and he was wearing a oversized glove on his cranking hand. In preparation for my trip I took a pair of gloves made by Stihl that fit me perfectly since I did not want my soft hands to blister and make me look like a wuss. So I lent him one of my gloves and woosh it started and so the picture posted is of Pauli getting the mixer going. He then added something called Safir about 200 cc and let it mix for 20 minutes, after which we filled the molds. I had to use a rubber hammer to wack the mold to get any air bubbles out. I assume that only those who either love me alot or are curious about making cement in Cambodia have gotten this far in this description.
Then I sifted sand for about two hours getting the clay and debris out of it. I am posting a picture of my sand pile which was about an hours work.
Then a typical Cambodian experience occurred, the power went out which meant the pump for the water needed to wash the sand and gravel stopped and so around noon we quit for the day.
I bought some towels in the Old Market and rode my bike home for lunch.
Later in the day I joined the spa health club at the Sokha Angkor Hotel and worked out. Need to continue to do this and get myself in shape and in form..you know what I mean. Unusually so for Cambodia we had rain ( came in from Vietnam!) and so I took a tuk tuk back to the apartment to be on time to meet Se. We had an hour lesson in Khmer which is very difficult to learn. I think I can only do so by speaking with him as from a book sounding it out phonetically I do not get.
I am getting tired of Khmer food which is usually rice and a curry or rice and chicken and veggies so had a " chef salad" on pub street and ate alone for the first time. An American couple asked me to join them but I said no as I was more interested in being by myself. If I were to describe myself as being " alone" as opposed to being by myself, it would connote a totally different image and I find that interesting and is the mantra for how I see this experience " being by myself".
Then Bora who is the apartment manager arranged for me to have a massage. The masseuses was a 20 year old who gave me a more westernized massage with oil rather than the punishing Thai massage which most here do. Such a luxury and I think it did improve my neck which is bothering me. The cost was $15 plus a $2 tip, Shes spoke enough English to tell me that she makes $50 a month.
Tried before going to bed to connect on skype and email but my wifi was as they say here" not stable" and then I finally lost the entire wifi connection. I was so frustrated that I spoke with Katheen and Lauren on the blackberry with a very clear connection and I have no idea how much that will cost. So did not get to bed until 1 a.m. knowing that I would probably spend most of the next day trying to find enough patience to deal with wifi.